Windows not booting from disk drive

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 9:42 am

This morning I wanted to do a full reinstall of Windows, as I do about every six months. So I went into the Bios and set the disk drive to be the first bootable device, inserted the Windows installation dvd and went for it.
But to my surprise, Windows just started. The disk drive was spinning, but the computer just had not booted the Windows installation process from it.
I checked the Bios setup and the boot devices were set correctly. I even tried once with only the disk drive selected, and the SATA turned off. Same result...

I checked but the installation process on the disk drive is still in intact. I can do a Windows installation from it. But I want to do a hard install, with the new partitions and all.

Anyone knows what the problem could be? I'm not doing anything else then I have done the last gazillion times.
(Please just tell me that I have broken my computer and I have to go buy a new one. My fingers have been itchy anyway lol

).

Thanks for any response in advance.

~ Viper.

[Edited on 10-21-2012 by Viper]

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 1:30 pm

Which Version of Windows? Not all Computers are compatible with the Newer Windows7/8 Operating System. If you are reinstalling your old Windows Operating System that is a different story! In some Bios there is a difference between First boot Device and Boot Priority! Make sure Boot Priority is set correctly! Hope this helps!....

Capt_Caveman · Post by **Capt_Caveman** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 2:05 pm

press f12 repetedly at boot up (boot drive select option) and try to select dvd drive.

Post by **Marvin** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 4:40 pm

I had the same problem with my Dad's computer. Turned out, there is more than one page in the BIOS for getting your computer to boot up where you want it to boot up. For my Dad's, he kept getting a floppy disc error 'cause, after a power failure, his BIOS reverted to default ... which was the floppy drive. Except his computer didn't have a floppy drive.

Check other pages in your BIOS. Expand each section and look to see that nothing else is overriding your desired settings.

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 5:25 pm

Thank you all for the feedback and advice.

I was running Windows 7 Ultimate, and was trying to reinstall that again. I had selected the proper primary boot device, which I set to DVD drive. Also, I was hitting the right key, which was DEL (other systems indeed use F12, F2 or others). And I also checked whether my BIOS had several pages, which is hadn't. I should have known about it anyway, since I've done quite a few Windows reinstalls in the past to maintain my system.

I have meanwhile found the problem, and it was much more simple and frankly, more embarrassing than I though.
I have my monitor hooked up to an HD graphics card, via an HDMI cable. When reinstalling, either the BIOS automatically reverts back to the onboard card, or uses the PCI-E card, but not its HDMI connection but the analog one. Either way, during the installation process the system was sending out a monitor signal through the (analog) onboard socket, while I had my monitor hooked up to the (digital) card socket. So the monitor wasn't getting a signal but produced 24 inches of blackness.
Switching the HDMI cable on the card for the analog cable on the onboard output socket solved the problem. So the problem wasn't so much that the DVD didn't boot, but simply that the screen wasn't working.

Quite awkward that you spend a couple of hour struggling in utter frustration to find the problem, while it is actually too simple to think of. Reminds me of that time when I took the box to the shop because the screen kept going dark, and it turned out that I somehow had enabled the screensaver, and selected a black screen for it... (while I never use a screensaver). Like I said, really awkward lol.

Thanks again for the feedback guys, I'm currently running on a fresh Windows 7 installation, and am in the process of installing all other proggies. I should be spaceworhty again by tomorrow. Too bad though, I was sorta wishing I could buy a new rig. Now I will have to make due with this one.

Cya in space.

~ Viper.

[Edited on 10-21-2012 by Viper]

49rTbird · Post by **49rTbird** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 5:45 pm

Great to hear you solved it. Question, why do you re-install again? Does it effect any programs installed?

[Edited on 10-21-2012 by thetiebers]

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 6:21 pm

Yeah when you do a hard reinstall ('hard' meaning including re-partitioning your drives) you lose everything and anything that's on it. For that reason I only use my C drive to run programs off, and have all my stuff stored on a 2Tb external HD, which I disconnect during any reinstall. Prior to the reinstall I tend to make a list with the programs I have installed and actually use, and I keep a folder on my external drive which holds all the installation files for these programs. So when Windows has been reinstalled, I simply run down the list and reinstall all the programs I had before.

As to 'why' I reinstall: I do it as regular maintenance for my system. Even normal use causes Windows to slowly clog up and slow down over time, even when you use cleaning programs for cleaning your registry and temp files etc. It's a story too technical for me but I believe it has something to do with files that Windows keeps writing small amounts of data to (batch files I believe they're called?...), which keep growing over time. That, and some other stuff.

I don't know the exact technical ins and outs about it, but I do know that after I do a fresh Windows reinstall, my (pretty old and not really high-spec anymore) again runs like a charm.
It's quite save, as long as you make absolutely sure you have made hard backups of your important stuff. Personally I would never keep personal stuff on my computer's hard drives, because if it gets fried, there's a good chance you lose it all.

~ Viper.